Before and After: A Home Office Makeover

A living room morphs into a gorgeous personal home office.

One reader shares her budget-friendly DIY tricks for transforming a living room into a gorgeous home office space for a small business.

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Courtesy of Lane Carver

Before: Living Room

The minute Lane Carver set eyes on this Tennessee home's living room while touring the space with her husband a little over a year ago, she knew she had big plans for it. "The previous homeowners used it as a formal living room," says Lane, who owns her own stationery business, Emerson Ink. "I instantly transformed it in my mind and knew it would be the perfect office space for me! I'm a graphic designer, so I wanted a bright, creative and energizing space." Shortly after purchasing the house, Lane got to work.

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Courtesy of Lane Carver

After: Home Office

To make her office feel less utilitarian than your typical office space, Lane added lots of color and a bevy of pretty-but-practical organizers and furniture pieces. "I'm so thrilled with the results!" she says.

In this photo: The walls are painted with Porter Paints' "Oasis;" Lane used Porter Paints' "Carlisle Mist" for the slightly darker blue stripes. The white and red bookshelves are from Ikea.

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Courtesy of Lane Carver

Before: Chandelier

Lane tackled all of the painting on her own, including updating the room's ornate chandelier. "When my husband and I purchased the house, there was a black iron chandelier in the room," she says. Unfortunately, its dark and heavy feel didn't fit the new aesthetic Lane had in mind. "Instead of purchasing another one, I sprayed it with Kilz primer and then painted it white." She also added six chandelier shades, for a total cost of less than $50. "I think it completely transformed the chandelier into a modern, bright fixture that fit the feel of my office perfectly," she says.

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Courtesy of Lane Carver

After: Fireplace

Framed black-and-white prints, along with some gold tinsel garland and a sign emblazoned with the name of Lane's stationery and card business, add personality to the room.

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Courtesy of Lane Carver

Helpful Hints: Painting Stripes

To achieve perfectly straight lines, Lane suggests using a long level instead of a laser level. She also suggests painting an even number of stripes (she did four) so that, aesthetically, the top stripe and the bottom stripe on the wall will be the same color. Finally, make sure you have some plastic on hand. "Before I started painting the stripes, I ran a credit card over all of the tape," she says. "It helps seal the tape to the wall so that I didn't have any paint seeping through."

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Courtesy of Lane Carver

After: Cutting Station

The base of Lane's "cutting station"—where she hand-cuts all of her invitations—is actually an old architectural cabinet used to store blueprints that she rescued from a friend who was going to toss it. "I painted it white and now use for storage, and to hold my rotatrim rotary cutter, which I use almost every night," she says. Next to it is a rotating vintage postcard display, purchased at an antique mall, which Lane now uses to store her inventory of invitations and cards in an eye-catching way.

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Courtesy of Lane Carver

After: Colorful Desk

The aqua desk is a Craigslist find that Lane scored for $25. "It was a natural-colored wooden kitchen table that I sanded, primed, painted and distressed myself," she says.

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